The Trump administration has begun an intensive, weekslong hunt for noncitizens among the nation’s registered voters, despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Hundreds of federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security have been assigned to the task, including some who were removed from their normal duties investigating human trafficking and terrorism. The Times obtained training materials explaining the process.

The agents are scouring voter rolls managed by the states and seeking out information about individual voters using their dates of birth and partial Social Security numbers. In some cases, investigators are effectively posing as individual voters to gather information on public websites run by the states.

Decades of evidence suggest that noncitizen voting is very rare. But the extraordinary operation reveals the extent to which the Trump administration is searching for evidence of fraud ahead of the November elections.

In related news, the Postal Service has been swiftly developing a complex screening system for mail-in ballots. Blue states argue that it violates the Constitution, and a whistle-blower has warned that the system could disrupt voting by mail across the country. Here’s what to know.

Google gets a big win

A federal judge ruled today that Google did not have to break up its advertising technology business, as the Justice Department had requested. Instead, the judge said, Google could address its illegal monopoly over the industry by making changes to business practices to benefit competitors.

The decision ensures that the $4.1 trillion company’s power over the internet will be largely unchanged.

Many at-risk Republicans are skipping Trump’s midterm party

Facing headwinds in the run-up to November’s midterm elections, President Trump has decided to hold an unusual party convention that he has described as “a RALLY like none other” in Dallas next week.

But as my colleagues went around Capitol Hill talking to House and Senate Republicans running in competitive races, many said they planned to skip the event — which lawmakers are being charged $25,000 to attend — and spend the time campaigning instead.

In other politics news:

What caused the deadly floods in Nepal?

Scientists studying the Himalayan glacier collapse that led to catastrophic flooding in Nepal believe that the deadly disaster was most likely caused by a bedrock failure. When the glacier collapsed, it released more than seven billion cubic feet of rock and ice, enough to fill around 100 football stadiums.

With warming temperatures and melting permafrost, a geomorphologist told The Times that such instability is more common. My colleagues used satellite images to diagram the collapse.

For more: I was amazed to learn about the “miracle house,” a green-painted home that stood firm, as its surroundings were swept away by floodwaters.

More top news

• Massachusetts: Jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial said they were unable to reach a verdict for the second day in a row. The judge again pushed them to break the deadlock.

• Middle East: The U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes overnight, killing military personnel and civilians in Iran, including four people at a wedding.

• Black Sea: Strikes on ports and vessels by both Russia and Ukraine have left farmers with a bumper harvest in Ukraine facing ruin, and could cause another worldwide food shock.

• Climate: The world has failed in its goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the U.N. said, and should try to remove carbon from the atmosphere at scale.

• Venezuela: Chevron, which stayed in the country after other Western companies left, will invest $7 billion to more than double its production there.

• Washington: The Kennedy Center began removing a major outdoor sculpture, Joel Shapiro’s “Blue,” after it was targeted following Trump’s takeover of the center.

• California: Lawmakers passed a bill championed by the comedian and auto enthusiast Jay Leno that exempts classic cars from the state’s stringent emissions rules.

• Media: The Saturday Evening Post, famous for its Norman Rockwell covers, will stop printing after 205 years.

• Birds: A baby boom among kakapos, a critically endangered flightless parrot, has resulted in a record number of chicks this year.

THE EVENING QUIZ

This question comes from a recent edition of the newsletter. Click an answer to see if you’re right.

A New-York based biotech company revealed this month that it had used a gene-editing technique to create which type of animal?

TIME TO UNWIND

George Lucas’s legacy project is finally ready for its close-up

For many years, George Lucas, the “Star Wars” creator, has been on a mission to create a museum of “narrative art.” He poured more than $1 billion of his own money into the project, believing that storytelling and illustration were overlooked by the art world. Now, after several delays, the museum is set to open in Los Angeles later this month.

One of the lobbies features an enormous Naboo N-1 Starfighter, but more than 90 percent of the gallery space has nothing to do with “Star Wars.” There are Norman Rockwell scenes; a Pikachu; fantasy art; and an entire gallery of graphic art and comic book images. Take a look inside.

Do I really need an IV drip?

If you live in a densely populated area, there’s probably a wellness clinic near you that offers intravenous drip therapy — a once strictly medical procedure that thousands of purveyors use to treat … just about everything. It’s a $3 billion industry, and many celebrities have shared photos of themselves hooked up to IVs.

My colleague Amy Wang tried it out, and left wondering whether the point of IV drips was actually to feel better, or the opposite. Read about her experience.

No car? No problem.

Our writer Michael Harmon considers himself a transit romantic — the kind of person who sees train tracks as a portal to a wonderful adventure. That’s why, when he set out this summer on a four-day journey to several of the Northeast’s prime vacation spots, he went without a car.

Using only trains, buses and ferries, Michael hopscotched from the urban landscape of New York City to pastoral North Fork of Long Island, then to the beaches of Block Island, R.I.; across the water to the summer haven of Narragansett, and finally to the backwoods of Pittsfield, Mass. Join him on his expedition, and see what he saw along the way.

Have a pleasurable evening.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow — Matthew

Eli Cohen was our photo editor.

We welcome your feedback. Reach us at evening@nytimes.com.